Inside Rivian's Electrical Hardware Lab with Vidya Rajagopalan
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- We recently had the privilege of visiting Rivian in California, where we gained exclusive access to their Electrical Hardware Lab and had the opportunity to speak with Vidya Rajagopalan, Sr. VP of Electrical Hardware.
rivian.com/
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#rivian #electrical #electricvehicle
I really enjoyed how Vidya explained everything, and I realized that what builds a company are the people.
And a mission. Right amount of pressure does wonders.
Vidya, Wassym and all the Rivian personnel are so very impressive!
Nick Fuentes dislike
Vidya is impressive. Thanks Sandy! Can’t wait for my R2.
My R1S arrives in 36 hours - your videos are making me even more confident and excited about my decision - thanks!
Thoughts after a couple of days?
He never got it😂
What we're witnessing is a golden age! Suddenly, automakers care about complexity and access to components, and this will trickle down to owners being better able to service cars without so much of a snake's nest!
😅 no
Software will lock you out as safety against hackers and because cars are data miners to sell more
Replacement is not in focus it is prohibited by the voltage/shock risk and prohibited new sales 😮
Have you tried fixing a 1 or 2 year old car? Everything is locked down by the manufacturer so the individual can't do or repair anything under the premise of reducing car theft. The only thing the manufacturer says is you must purchase new extortionately priced electronic module from us, use (or buy) our extortionately expensive software to program it. Golden age? More like poo brown age.
Most owners dont know the difference between a nut and bolt.
@@drury2d8 They know dollars and cents tho. Especially when they find out their 5 year old car will cost half of its value to fix.
Great video Sandy. Thank-you for an introduction to another awesome Rivian tech leader.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is just a fascinating look inside the tech of making a vehicle. I operate very heavy machines that go high and fast, and rarely get to see the brains/tech behind the machines. Thank you sir for this content.
LOVED THIS !!!!
The access and forthrightness they have allowed the engineers to talk about (on camera for all public consumption on YT) is unparalled!!!!!
Watching from the UK, I can't wait to see the progress in engineering and price reduction in the R2 for UK and Europe!!
Thumbs up for the algorithm.
Everybody loves Rivian. Me too. They just need to get costs down and volumes up, so they can stay alive and thrive. Please.
Rivian’s delivery numbers just released (early 2025) look very good and that was enough to give the share price about a 16% boost while the market as a whole has been in a pretty sour mood. The association with Volkswagen bodes well too. The Amazon warehouse where I live has switched about half its fleet over to the Rivian EDV van. Our neighborhood Amazon driver is in an EDV and he said he really loves his new truck - the ergonomics and human factors make his day easier for him. That was coming from a Ram delivery van.
The future for Rivian looks pretty decent and they’re doing a lot of things right.
Can't wait to switch from my Model Y to the R2 when it comes out. Done with Tesla and Musk!
@@shake741same
@@shake741 Perfect... they just need to survive for, oh, I don't know... 4 more years and if they can do that I think things will look very good. Would hate to see the obviously stellar talent and infrastructure they built up to come up short because they didn't get a chance to scale.
I’m very impressed with the transparency Rivian has shown and they all look very happy and excited in what they do. I’m glad to have the R1S and we plan on getting the R3X.
That's absolutely incredible !!! The reduction is mind-blowing. !!! Brilliant job of explaining the differences !!!
Thank you! Cheers!
I love my Rivian!
That hardware lab is a nerds paradise, I'd love to work there. Great video content, so much detail, and Vidya was very impressive.
What a great wealth of information and self-confidence Vidya has. Very refreshing to see and hear the geeky details from someone who knows this from the ground-up. And it's very generous of Rivian to let share this information with the general public. Thanks to everyone involved. 👌
Effective demonstration of lean principles, clever solutions, and clear explanations. Rajagopalan and Munro's expertise shines through. I enjoyed watching and gained valuable knowledge. Thanks for sharing this.
Wow, Sandy a great video. I really like Rivian products. Their team is so forward looking. 👍👍🇨🇦
Great work by the team at Rivian and I was impressed by the way Vidya transitioned from broader overview to precise specifics.
Is amazing to have access to every little detail usually hidden in the complete vehicle.
Love this engineer dispelling the ethernet and 48v fallacy of efficiency.
It's not, and she didn't. What's holding 48V back is mostly lack of parts. Once we get past that, 12V will join 6V in the history books.
Maybe cheap cars won't have fast buses, if you don't have cameras and radars you don't need it.
@@jamesvandamme7786 That's a pretty big if/when. Half the comments on Rivian videos are always people complaining about cost. Going to a more expensive system just for the sake of doing it is fine for Tesla, let them pay the high costs, fight with the suppliers, and iron out the kinks. After they've dealt with the painful transition, it will be much easier for others to join them.
@@jamesvandamme7786 But why 24V have not made into passenger car. There should be parts I think. Eurotrucks have 24V system.
@@patreekotime4578 Funny, I drove a diesel Blazer that was 24V. Ain't a big deal getting parts.
@@jamesvandamme7786 And how many components were 24v? I'm going to make a wild guess here that it was just the starter and literally the entire rest of the electronics ran 12v, just like the normal Blazer. Ill bet it even ran 2 x 12v alternators.
The magnetic vent is brilliant. I'm definitely doing that on my home. The internal sleeve extension might bite you in the future with lint catching the sleeve causing clogging, I would just replace the original sleeve with a longer one. The outside vent system is brilliant as well, I have critters, so I will try it as well, but my concern would be excessive condensation build up, especially in humid climates.
Very good Investment from Volkswagen in Rivian.
Probably the only good think VW did.
@ thing
It just amazes me that the motor car control systems are just so complex and complicated yet the OEMs are still focussed and reliant on the internal combustion engine invented more than 100 years ago. Internal and External interests rule through inertia.
great insights! one recommendation for the video format - when recording small components in non ideal lighting such as this, it helps viewers a lot if recorded in 60fps otherwise the small components are blurry the entire time the camera is panning, which it is most of the time.
🤗😎 THANKS SANDY,VIDYA AMAZING 🤩🤩🤩PROGRESS AND THE MUNRO TEAM 🧐💚💚💚
All of the consolidation of parts has the multiple benefits Sandy identified, but they are for the assemblers, QC and ultimately the manufacturer due to lower costs, but now if a “North” controller has a component failure, if the vehicle is out of warranty, it can be a quick module swap, but the new module will be astronomically expensive.
This channel is really under-subscribed. This is pure tech gold. Vidya mean Knowledge and she definitely has a ton of it. Sandy requesting one with Ashok on the Tesla FSD
Appreciate the feedback, we'll look into that!
Awesome video, really impressive to see how the design shift from domain to zonal architecture, improves the reliability, cost and efficiency. Thank you Vidya for the amazing insights, I loved all of the explanations.
Absolutely phenomenal video. It now makes sense why VW wants to pair with Rivian
nice! thanks for sharing the personal exploration of an automotive industry Mfg.!! awesome!
Thanks for this mind blowing video!
I learned so much! So well dialogued, explained, and demonstrated! Impressive design and progress! Immense collective intelligence, craft, and ingenuity! #forever Thank you Sandy for sharing more of Rivian‘s stellar team! Kudos to Vidya! #Excellence
Thank you Sandy and Vidya for showing the stark contrast between the Gen 1 and 2 Rivian wiring and module interconnect system. Constant innovation and simplification of systems really separates best thinking practice. Would think Elon's people could learn a thing or two on keeping a better version of Lidar like I have is my old 2018 M3 and no longer use. Wouldn't it be interesting if the two companies could "mind-meld".
Vidya seems to be a manager who knows what she is talking about. I have no clue who is the other guy in the video, but amazing interview, thanks!
Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid. He's featured in this video, also from our trip. th-cam.com/video/1DC5AIXX1VA/w-d-xo.html
I went away for a bit cause of all the Tesla crap, but happy to see Rivian getting a bit of support. R. J. is unlikely to suddenly grow a messiah complex :-)
I followed Sandy's suggestion to reduce wiring harnesses and go wireless by making all MCUs in my device talk to each other via Wi-Fi. Only two wires going to each MCU, 24VDC and GND.
On the other hand, huge ECU consolidation in cars makes me scared: 1) if one of those zonal controllers go bad the vehicle would be almost unusable, if a domain controller goes bad only that function is lost. 2) PCBs are rarely repaired in automotive industry, they are just replaced. If a component goes bad the replacement costs must be crazy expensive.
So consolidation is good for manufacturer and gives great performance until it breaks, then it's a write off.
Exactly. It's not if but when. Pick any brand of modern car and you'll hear of failing modules. This is a great demo of technology prowess over common sense. When a $15k module fails, what do you think will happen to Rivian resale value and the brand itself. Cheap to manufacture car with extortionate repair cost will kill off small brands like Rivian.
WiFi only is an interesting idea. I would be concerned about safety related to EMI / EMC issues. It might be possible to completely disable these vehicles by intentional EM-Field emissions.
@@g0nz0manthat can already be done with convention vehicles.
@@g0nz0man indeed not sure I would use this in a mission critical system, as you said any radio signal could get jammed from a distance. In a car I would use a ring of optical fibers. Cheap, lightweight and immune to electrical noise.
great job on the cameras especially!
Thanks for a great learning experience. GreenTough+Carbenfibr=Strong Lightweight Modules.🎉
Vidya explained well. Sandy always best
i said it before im happy to see they are taking steps in the right directions instead of reskinning the next gen.
So basically Rivian gen1 is Tesla Model S and Rivian gen2 is Tesla Model 3
Pretty much. Much better than the OEM model of building dozens of models on the old architecture and then being afraid to make big changes even with a new platform 25 years later.
Sandy & team, keep up the great content!
Very impressive, it really looks like they're doing everything right.
the consolidation seems neat but feels like it's gonna be absurdly expensive to replace once it breaks, especially since she mentioned that it's more powerful than an average laptop. also the water cooling makes me worried about the logevity
Awesome multiple video with deep dive into software and ECU.
I wish Sandy can comments or critic more by comparing to Tesla 😂
Seems like the function focused wiring architecture represents special use integrated circuit processors where the zonal architecture is using general use IC processors. The software achieves specificity of function for general IC processors. Zonal multitasking would split the bandwidth of the processor for different simultaneous functions. Very cool. And over the air updates reprogram the zonal processors to achieve software defined functionality.
Thank you!!
Can't wait to see them in the RHD version where there is a deep void to be filled.
As an EE, I’m very impressed and wish I had a need for a Rivian. Maybe someday they will produce an EV for me. How about a 4-passenger convertible?
these cars are magnificent! when is the R3 deploying?
Damn it would be cool to work on something like this! Excellent video 🎉
very informative and provides insights into important details. The Gen2 system is efficient with fewer control modules, which is a great improvement. However, troubleshooting faults in this system can be complex and potentially costly to repair."
Rivian is doing just amazing job 🤩💪🤟🤩
This is real education, thank you very much.
Our car industry seems to go on wrong direction, making cars more and more complicated, which results in higher cost , both manufacturing and maintenance, I believe most of people want to drive a car , not a car drives them, a car is just a tool taking people from A to B, should be as simple as possible, why do people need a motor to open a door while it can be opened easily by yourself….
Stats suggest that most people hate to drive, some can't be bothered to pay attention, and a smaller (though increasing) number will never own a car.
Human drivers kill 40,000 people every year in the US alone, that's why we are better off letting AI drive us.
Good job!
Thanks!
thank you.
You're welcome!
Would have liked to see new harness side by side with old
Great Interview
16:45 - c’mon Sandy…PIN to drive.
It occurs to me that the engineers know what needs to be done and redesigned but the bean counters and C-suite fights them. Sandy's job is to sell the C-suite on letting the engineers design what's needed rather than re-using off the shelf parts.
Holy Moly!!
If US manufacturers expect to compete globally with China, Inc. this is what needs to be done. Exemplary.
Wow Grandpa Sandy is doing the greatest marketing ever with this video😅
Seeing the Gen1 v Gen2 board is where I realized they're doing what aftermarket wiring companies like Rywire have been doing to abandon as many fuses & relays as possible thru SSD integration* *not certain that's worded correctly.
It would be nice if he asked the hard questions. RJ or Vidya (I can't remember which) 100% said when they did a walkthrough for the Gen1 vehicle that the compute module was upgradable. Should have mentioned they said that last time and what their intent was or if things changed. Also interesting to see an Ambarella CV5 on the infotainment computer. Wonder what they are using it for...
Sandy, do you know how many fasteners a cybertruck has? I'm looking to compare to other consumer goods
She mentioned unlocking the vehicle with your watch. Just so wondering when that feature is actually going to be released? I personally don’t like always having my phone on me.
Wild looking at that board at 18:25. I feel like all the big US market manufacturers (GM, Stellantis, Ford,Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc.) are still stuck on that left half of the board. Wild that Rivian was able to figure this out yet the big guys are still just throwing modules all over the place, fuse boxes under the hood, two in the dash, one in the trunk, etc. The only downfall I see to the Rivian approach? One of those PCB fuses goes, or a component in the PCB in one of those goes, you need a whole new module. And that can't be cheap.
It would be interesting to leave her and Mary Barra stuck on an island together. Vidya would probably build a boat stick Mary in it and send her on her way.
Nice video. I love the insights into the hardware - although I did feel that you left the software guy high and dry. What Rivian have achieved is a blending of the hardware and software. It ain't just about the hardware. 🙂
The software guy got his own video.
@@RechargeableLithium Actually, I did see that subsequently. Fabulous. Thanks for the follow-up.
The big reason to use Ethernet all over is weight based on less wire. Bandwidth/capacity should not be the driver to use or not use Ethernet. Add Power over Ethernet and even more weight is removed. Location and reduction of ECU/Compute should then be much easier. Also creating redundant connections would be easier for crash survival.
Sandy is a phenomenon, in his own right.
I thought the future was specialized modules controlling certain features power, ground, communication wires spanning the vehicle and only short small harnesses to control whatever the module is in control of in the local area.
Nice, smart woman.
Vidya is what normal Car Companies with their Machismo work environments lack. I do worry about the Semiconductor cooling for the ADAS and Infotainment. Thermal paste + that 1 piece Combo Heat sink + Vibrations. Lets assume that double sided heatsink is manufactured to super fine tolerances and so are the PCB's with their individual chip heights. (Lots of variables here). Are they going to maintain contact via thermal paste over time, road vibrations etc?
Rivian could teach Aptera so much. I wish Rivian would merge with Aptera.
Very cool to get this inside look but oh man how I wish my gen 2 R1s had grab handles on the a-frame like these dev machines do!
Rivian consists of former Tesla engineers working on projects they previously explored at Tesla and later developed at Rivian. The architecture between the two companies is largely similar
It isn’t too surprising to see Tesla ex patriots at Rivian. Having talked to some people who should know, there are stories of how life at Tesla can be quite arbitrary and capricious in terms of micromanagement. It is tough to judge the whole corporate culture from a few of these short videos, but I like what I see with the respect and rapport expressed between the Rivian individuals.
Dual Nvidia Orin chips mean 500+ TOPS. Why Rivian only advertised it as 254 TOPS when announcing Gen2?
At 26:00 they say it's a twinned board for redundancy
Please add rear wheel steering on gen 3.
Nice ev vidya !
Nice, i bet theres still a fuse panel somewhere but it must be tiny. Gen 1 looks terrible to diagnose and trying to get everything to boot in order is rough. No wonder it can't be switched off.
Maybe there is one big one in the power supply, but all of the normal fuses appear to have been replaced with SFCLs (Superconducting Fault Current Limiters). As far as I can tell, these are automatic reclosers... basically, miniturized automatic circuit breakers that reclose when the fault is cleared.
Also, most modern computers are essentially never turned "off". They go into "sleep" or "hibernation" state, with very low power consumption, the entire OS state is saved in RAM. They only things actively operational is likely the vehicle approach system, and security system. Vehicle approach detects the phone or watch, does it's security handshake, and wakes up the rest of the system while the driver is walking to the door. Same way laptops "start" up blindingly fast.... because they aren't doing a full boot sequence.
Yea best way seems to just put a disconnect on the 12v negative post to keep it from bricking or draining in storage after some weeks. Not like a regular car where it can be left for months if need be.
@LarsDennert Yeah, i guess with the understanding that that first startup will be slow, probably have many trouble codes, and need a prolonged update period.
Hello sir , are they using Vector HIL Rack vt system or dSPACE HIL for LABCAR ?
best inspirational video ever
It's all great and all but imagine the door controller portion of the ECU goes bad and now you have to replace one expensive ECU to fix a door control issue.
It'll be nice to talk about reasons why original design didn't account for these improvements in the first place.
Seems like wiring could be greatly reduced by using a system that essentially just supplies power and then uses something similar to ethernet over power for communication. A company in France that developed a compressed air powered vehicle had used a similar RF system to reduce weight, so it’s definitely a possibility.
I think Cybertruck is doing that, at least partially? I think it's just a matter of time and component development to get to that level throughout the vehicle.
They do use ethernet for communication between major modules. But where they don't need the bandwidth they stuck to traditional wiring. A taillight doesnt need all of that bandwidth, just power.
I can see why VW wants some of this tech.
So how does fusing work on gen2 without a fuse board? Is it thermal trip?
It's software controlled. No thermal
No doubt Vidya is super intelligent but I would like to know Rivian plan how they are going to collect, label, train those 8 mega pixel video stream along with what is their strategy on deciding which sensor to trust when they disagree .. this is so so dead on arrival .. but best of luck
Another video with vidya
Having dealt with wiring and fuse issues, how's this supposed to work 15 years down the road? If you have a tripping circuit is there diagnostics to pinpoint a wire issue or will it require a multiple thousand dollar board? I.E. throwing parts at it and then realizing you need learning software at a dealer?😮
Boards could go bad of course, but they're fairly reliable these days. Modern commercial aircraft have been using electronic fuses for a while. Fuse boxes have their own issues, aside from
cost/weight/size.
Well, there's much less wiring to search thru. so there's that :)
Look up SFCLs. Basically miniturized automatic circuit breakers. I think they reclose when the fault state is clear. Since it's all on the board, there is very likely a trouble code if a fault trips. That would beat the guesswork!
Question?
At the fuse box @ 3:40 How many fuses are in the Rivian 1st gen?
With the software upgrades, does the owner have to annually upgrade to software updates?
Is it TRUE that people are getting locked inside of TESLAS and RIVIANS?
What's the FAILURE modes of the CONTROL MODULES on the 2nd gen?
Regarding the WIRING and the CONNECTORS is it possible to COLOR CODE the connectors to make it as simple as possible?
Regarding RADAR and the SENSORS isn't that more parts to make?
Is it possible to make the RIVIAN without the RADAR SENSORS?
How's the SAFTEY rating of the RIVIAN compared to a CYBERTRUCK?
What about a KEYFOB that ties into the RIVIAN SOFTWARE?
Notice the thickness of the boards at 20:40.
What about DUST MITIGATION regarding the AUTONOMOUS or INFOTAINMENT BOARDS?
What about FROST PROOF regarding both of the BOARDS?
At 23:20 regarding the coolant flowing through the pipes, is it Ethylene Glycol that is cooling it?
What about TEMPERATURES?
I'm assuming ALUMINUM for the petals regarding the COOLING?
Regarding their PCB suppliers? Texas Instruments? TSMC?
Has anybody ever done A TOTAL PARTS COUNT BETWEEN A RIVIAN AND A CYBER TRUCK?
Nice, I see Nvidia is coming out with Thor an AI chip 20x more powerful than Orin which Rivian is using 2 of them here 22:07
I wonder how long before they upgrade to the new Thor processor?
Rivian! Please fix your squeaky door handles on gen2 vehicles! Please also fix your sometimes working garage door opener!
Although the optimization is remarkably visible, it still looks expensive.
Lidar, but not now due to cost?
Very cool. Interested to understand if liquid coolant system for the infotainment/self driving computers comes directly from the system that cools the battery pack? Or an ancillary system.
I think they mentioned somewhere its separate cooling for ADAS/Infotainment
Do the chinese EVs have all these components or similar?
Innovation Lap
Wow this is amazing!Game over for Tesla!
Again?